Archive for August, 2013

Wearable computing could be the next big technological revolution or it could end up as the next technological red herring. Regardless of which side of that fence you perch, right now Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is the primary device people are talking about in the smartwatch segment of wearable computers. It is widely known that Samsung will be launching their Galaxy Gear smartwatch at their pre-IFA press event on September 4th.

So far, a smattering of details have been hinted at for the device, and more info continues to trickle out. The latest drop of intel is a leaked peek at the companion app which will supposedly come with the Galaxy Gear and allow it to sync up with your other Galaxy devices. A couple of pics of this “Gear Manager” app were recently posted (pictured above). The pics make it clear the Galaxy Gear will have built-in NFC functionality, and will be designed to function with several apps on Samsung phones like the Galaxy S4.

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HTC is generally considered to be one of the most innovative mobile phone companies in the world today and just lately they’ve shifted their focus from the ‘low-end’ side of the phone industry to the ‘high end’ to try and claw back some real estate from the the biggest hitter in the Android world.Samsung.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months you will know that Matt absolutely loves the HTC One and so do thousands of others across the globe but the problem is that HTC just haven’t been able to shift as many of their beloved flagship as they predicted, so to change the company’s fortune they have decided to try their hand at their own operating system.

This operating system will be designed specifically for the Chinese market as HTC’s CEO Peter Chou believes that the country is an area where great growth is possible, and according to sources across the internet HTC’s Chairwoman has personally been in contact with the Chinese government to ensure that this business prospect is the best that it possibly can be. The main reason behind the idea to create their own operating system is unclear but i can’t help but think it could be something to do with wanting Asia etc to become less dependant on other smartphone manufacturers eg. Apple, Samsung etc.

There has been no word as yet when this operating system will be released in China but rest assured we will let you know of any further developments as this is a story that could well see HTC sticking around in the mobile phone industry for many years to come if they pull it off.

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EE, the UK’s first 4G network, has surpassed the 100 town milestone, with 10 new places covered this month. 4G from EE is now available to businesses and consumers in a total of 105 towns and cities across the UK, covering 60% of the population just ten months after launch.

The full press release from EE follows:

SUPERFAST 4G FROM EE HITS 100 TOWN MILESTONE

· Accrington named the 100th UK town to be covered by a superfast 4G mobile network – footballing legend Ian Rush marks the switch on of the superfast service at the Storefirst Stadium, Accrington Stanley’s home ground

· 4G from EE now available to businesses and consumers in a total of 105 towns and cities across the UK, covering 60% of the population just ten months after launch

· EE also switches on double speed 4G in a further five towns – Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton

Wednesday 28 August, 2013 – EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, today announced that 4G is now available in more than 100 towns and cities across the UK, with ten new places covered this month. Accrington, in Lancashire, is officially named the 100th town in the UK to benefit from superfast mobile internet.

To celebrate this milestone, footballing legend Ian Rush – who helped give the town’s football club Accrington Stanley national recognition when he featured in the famous 1980s Milk Marketing Board ad – visited the town on behalf of EE to mark the switch on of superfast 4GEE.

Rush was in Accrington to present the manager of Accrington Stanley, James Beattie, with 4G from EE for the club, as EE’s coverage of the town will include Accrington Stanley’s home ground, The Storefirst Stadium. The switch-on of the superfast 4G technology, which will be installed for free in the team’s club house, coincides with Accrington’s league cup game against Cardiff City and EE is to sponsor the match ball to further mark the occasion.

Ian Rush commented: “It’s great to see that Accrington is grabbing headlines again – this time for being the 100th town in the UK to get superfast 4G from EE. It’s fantastic to be part of the big 4G switch on, and we’ll all be raising a glass of milk at the Accrington Stanley clubhouse to celebrate!”

Steven Day, Chief of Brand and Communications, EE, said: “Our 4G network is just ten months old and we’re delighted to have reached the 100 milestone so quickly. With Accrington named as our 100th 4G town we wanted to take this opportunity to have some fun celebrating the fantastic efforts of our network team. We’re all about connecting people and football legend Ian Rush is intrinsically connected to Accrington thanks to the 1980s Milk Board ad which can be still be enjoyed today online and streamed without any annoying buffering on your mobile thanks to 4G!”

Today’s launch strengthens EE’s position as the biggest 4G network in the UK, helping more people around the country access the latest mobile technology.

4GEE is also being switched on this month in Ashford, Bicester, Colchester, Guildford, Milton Keynes, Redhill, Sevenoaks, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Woking, taking the number of towns and cities covered to 105. 4G from EE now covers the homes and businesses of 60% of the UK population.

EE’s double speed 4G roll out continues…

In addition EE is upgrading already existing 4G networks to offer double speed 4G across a number of towns with average speeds of 24-30Mbps. More businesses and consumers will benefit from double speed which kicks off today in Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. Double speed 4G from EE is now available in 20 towns and cities across the UK.

Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer, EE said: “The key to a successful 4G launch is making the service available in as many places as possible – the more people use 4G, the more they want 4G. We have built amazing momentum with one of the fastest 4G roll outs in the world, a strong range of devices, great content offers and compelling pricing.”

EE 4G mobile customers have instant web access while on the move, so they can download large files quicker than ever, watch live TV on mobiles without buffering and play live multiplayer games on the go. Consumers and businesses have access to the UK’s widest range of 4G mobile handsets, tablets and dongles.

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The research firm Gartner predicts that by 2017, at least 25 percent of companies will have their own app stores. Finding the balance between your employees’ personal preferences and security for your business may never be easy. The widespread adoption of BYOD continues to give companies headaches – from the lack of uniformity to the questionable app choices employees make. By creating your own enterprise app store, you can greatly increase the security of what employees bring to the workplace.

What is an Enterprise App Store?

Just as BYOD is increasing in organizations, so is BYOA (‘Bring Your Own App’). Employees find apps they like to use for work and add them to their workflow. Unfortunately, those apps sometimes create security risks for your company. With an enterprise app store, you can prevent this.

Your IT department creates your enterprise app store. It reviews apps and makes them available through an online store (something most employees are now familiar with) once they are determined to be safe. There are simply too many advantages to creating an enterprise app store, even if the initial setup takes some time.

Apps can come from anywhere in the world, and are sometimes designed with malicious intent. The app itself could also be benign, yet still be open to manipulation by parties with ill intent. Either way, your employees will have little understanding of the risk such apps present without the input of your IT team.

Easier For Everyone

The initial process for a company-specific enterprise app store will take some time, but the end result makes things easier for management, IT and employees. Apperian encourages business executives to collaborate with IT departments to decide which employees need which apps. Giving employees access only to apps that help with their specific tasks cuts down on confusion, and helps workers identify the best tools for the job.

The cost of developing an app varies with what content you want it to offer and what kind of app you are creating. BlueCloudSolutions.com breaks down the cost estimates:

$1,000-$4,000 for a simple table-based app.

$8,000-$50,000 for a database native app.

$10,000-$250,000 for app-based games.

Additional functions can change your cost, such as in-app purchasing for $1,000-$3,000, share capabilities for $500-$1,500, Web services for $1,000 to $5,000, etc.

Drawing clearer boundaries for work-appropriate programs does not have to be ultimately restrictive, either. The overwhelming push for both BYOD and BYOA demonstrates the desire of employees for autonomy. Now, however, with solutions such as enterprise mobility management for BlackBerry, you can control business use while giving complete freedom for personal use.

Systems such as BlackBerry’s allow you to partition employee devices into work sections and personal sections. You only allow apps from your company’s enterprise app store on the work partition. And if you do detect a security compromise, you can wipe only the work partition of the device.

Control What is Necessary

Enterprise app stores and enterprise mobility solutions are the future of BYOD. There is little doubt employees will continue to want their own devices in the workplace. By using these enterprise solutions, you can achieve acceptable levels of security across ever-changing personal technologies.

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Motorola has decided to drop the Xoom brand name. Apparently, it isn’t entirely because they didn’t want to keep it either. There were complications a few years ago as Motorola was sued in 2011 for using the Xoom name by a payment company called Xoom Corp. Here’s a quote with the details,

Motorola has inked a deal with payment company Xoom Corp. that will see the handset and tablet maker put an end to its use of the "Xoom" name, American Lawyer reported on Tuesday, citing people who had knowledge of the deal. The agreement was reportedly signed on Monday, and the settlement between the firms has been kept confidential.

Xoom Corp. sued Motorola in 2011, alleging that the mobile firm violated its trademark by using the Xoom name for its tablets. Motorola decided to fight the lawsuit, but according to American Lawyer, it has called a ceasefire.

It’s not clear exactly when the Xoom name needs to be chopped, but the report claims that the Google-owned company must "eventually phase out its Xoom tablet brand." Essentially this means there will never be another Xoom tablet, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we will never see another Motorola tablet.

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LG communications executive Dimitar Vulev, recently confirmed in an interview that LG is working on several new Android devices, some of which will be out by the end of the year. He confirmed the existence of the LG G Pad Android tablet, and indicated the company is working on an LG phablet alongside a smartwatch. He also confirmed that LG’s flexible display technology might be used on the smartwatch, although the smartwatch won’t come out until 2014.

Samsung and LG reportedly have finally overcome the technical hurdles with their flexible OLED display technology. According to a report, both companies will be mass producing flexible displays and they will be showing up in devices as early as November of this year. The first generation of flexible displays will only be able to bend in a single plane rather than multiples, but this is still a big start. The primary advantages of the flexible tech is that displays will be lighter, thinner, unbreakable, and will consume less power.

Those seem like fantastic reasons to bring the technology to market. Right now, Samsung has the capacity to make 1.5 Million 5-6-inch flexible displays per month, although the yields will be less than that since that is only their 100% capacity. The amount that LG will be able to produce was not disclosed although it will be less than that initially hoped.

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Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer rocked the tech world by dropping a bomb-shell on the media yesterday. He announced his retirement from Microsoft. It will be effective within the next 12 months after they have found a replacement for him.

Ballmer said, “There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”

Steve Ballmer has been with Microsoft since Bill Gates hired him as a business manager in 1980. He became the CEO of Microsoft in 2000 when Bill Gates announced his retirement. Despite a string of recent financial misfires from Microsoft with slow Windows 8 adoption and the monstrous Surface RT failure, Ballmer was instrumental in spearheading Microsoft’s entry into the gaming console business in 2001 with the first Xbox.

Despite his departure, this will now be a time of opportunity for Microsoft. It will be exciting to see the person they find to replace him.